A man and woman from Wasa were fined for a combined total of $6,000 and slapped with hunting bans when they were found guilty of poaching a mule deer near Cranbrook.
The Conservation Officer Service (COS) says members responded to a RAPP line complaint on November 7, 2023.
A member of the public reported seeing a woman loading a dead three-point mule deer into a pickup truck near Cranbrook during a four-point-only season.
A COS investigation found that the woman and another person destroyed and hid evidence by cutting up the antlers with a saw and hiding the carcass in a nearby waste transfer station.
The suspect lied about the deer when officers spoke to her.
“When confronted by Conservation Officers, a woman stated she had killed a four-point mule deer but forgot to cancel her species licence, and a bear had come and taken the mule deer’s head along with the antlers,” said the COS.
Officers, along with a COS K9 Major, searched the transfer station and nearby area and found the cut-up antlers and remains of the deer’s carcass.
Julie Holmes and Benjamin Roberts both appeared in Cranbrook Provincial Court on Tuesday, February 25, 2025.
Holmes pleaded guilty to two counts under the Wildlife Act: killing wildlife outside of an open season and resisting or obstructing an officer. She received a three-year hunting ban along with a $4,000 penalty.
Roberts pleaded guilty to one count under the Wildlife Act: unlawful possession of dead wildlife. Roberts was issued a $2,000 penalty and an 18-month hunting ban.
“All but $1 of each penalty is directed towards the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation,” said the COS.
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